I have published one-on-one interviews with more than 300 global leaders including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, White House Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President Valerie Jarrett, and President of Harvard University Drew Faust. I have also interviewed celebrities such as American rap icon Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and 14-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and producer Alicia Keys on their philanthropic efforts. Previously, I served as the first online editorial and partnerships manager for the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, a year-round platform to accelerate entrepreneurial approaches and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing social issues.

An In-depth Interview on International Development with Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation

Recently, I interviewed Kathy Calvin, CEO of the United Nations Foundation. We discussed the United Nations system in modern times, new and emerging trends in international development, President Obama’s engagement with the U.N. since taking office, and both current and future efforts of the UN foundation.

The UN Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation is an advocate for the UN and a platform for connecting people, ideas, and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems. The UN Foundation’s work is focused on decreasing child mortality, empowering women and girls, creating a clean energy future, protecting diverse cultures and environments, using mobile technology for development, and improving U.S.-UN relations.

Prior to joining the UN Foundation, Kathy served as President of the AOL Time Warner Foundation, guided AOL Time Warner’s other philanthropic activities and was the chief architect of the company’s corporate responsibility initiatives. She joined America Online in 1997 as Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer. Immediately prior to joining AOL, she was a Senior Managing Director at Hill and Knowlton, a global public relations company, where she led the U.S. Media Relations practice. For 12 years before that, she was the Director of Editorial Administration for U.S. News & World Report.

Rahim Kanani: Today, as you survey United Nations efforts, where has the UN system improved the most in recent past, and where has it continued to lag behind?

Kathy Calvin: The United Nations continues to change with the changing needs of our world. It’s not just when an unexpected disaster strikes that the UN is now faster – and better – than ever before at being the first on the scene to help, but also, as big problems face our planet, the UN is mobilizing in a more efficient way to get at the root of these problems. When it comes to sharing information in a world that lives on a 24-hour news cycle or helping link pregnant moms in developing countries to information from health clinics, the UN is embracing the information revolution and has made important steps on that front.

The United Nations has pushed all of us to think more strategically about the best ways to help raise the standard of living of all people. One of the best ways has been to focus on women and girls. The United Nations has made a strategic effort to put women at the top of the global agenda. If you invest in women’s health, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has done through his Every Woman Every Child global strategy, you are investing in the health of a family and community. This is something that many organizations around the world are beginning to realize and implement, but the UN has been at the forefront. With a strong global leader like Michelle Bachelet at the helm, UN Women is poised to help bring the private sector and big international organizations into that conversation to make real progress on behalf of women and girls.

The United Nations is the only institution with the international scale, reach and capacity to address today’s toughest challenges. From the global fight against AIDS and malaria, to bringing food and clean water to the world’s poorest people, to establishing peace and security in some of the most volatile regions around the globe, the UN’s humanitarian work stands out as one of its most critical roles. I continue to be amazed by what the UN accomplishes each day. For example, UN agencies such as UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Population Fund, and the World Health Organization provide food to 108 million people in 74 countries; vaccinate 40 percent of the world’s children, assist over 34 million refugees fleeing war, and help prevent maternal death to save lives of over 30 million women every year. And right now, the UN is committed to helping the people suffering from the famine in the Horn of Africa.

To continue its life-saving work, the UN has also done a commendable job of engaging a wider and more diverse audience through public-private partnerships. This is a strategy that former Secretary-General Kofi Annan identified, and the UN Foundation has been thrilled to help the UN on this front by building issue-based grassroots campaigns to involve individuals and groups from all walks of life such as basketball players, bishops, business leaders, students and celebrities in the critical work of the United Nations. Under the leadership of Secretary-General Ban, the UN has opened its doors through unique collaborations such as its Creative Community Outreach Initiative, where key film industry players in Hollywood, New York, and other creative centers around the world are helping to tell the UN story.

As the UN continues its vital work around the globe, it is also looking at ways to improve. There have been active reforms that have been taking place, started by former Secretary-General Annan and continued by Secretary-General Ban. And as with any large institution or corporation, there are always more challenges to overcome and the UN has shown a commitment to making the UN more transparent and effective. I believe we will continue to see UN strengthening remain a priority in the years to come. With U.S. leadership, we can continue to push for improvements in accountability and performance at the UN, because a strong UN that delivers as one is in the best interest of the United States.

Rahim Kanani: In the same vein, what are some of the trends in the vast and complex sector of international development that we should pay particular attention to?

Kathy Calvin: I think one of the most exciting trends right now is the birth of the global citizen who is interested in not only improving his or her immediate neighborhood, but also helping his or her neighbors across the globe. As the world becomes more interconnected each day, the UN Foundation is dedicated to helping connect people, ideas and resources to the UN to make international development smarter than ever. We are moving beyond traditional philanthropy, where companies or individuals provide only funds, to deeper, carefully managed relationships that share personnel, expertise, and creativity. Some of our most influential partners and supporters are moms, young girls, and entrepreneurs who personify both the global citizen and the deeply involved philanthropist.

For example, the UN Foundation has brought together some of the brightest entrepreneurs under 40 through the Global Entrepreneurs Council to take the UN and the UN Foundation – and our campaigns, partnerships, and programs – to the next level of innovation and impact. They are the next generation of entrepreneurs who understand that working with the United Nations is good for the world and for business. These innovative thinkers will help us engage with new generations to help the UN create 21st century solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems.

Rahim Kanani: How would you assess President Obama’s engagement with the United Nations since he took office?

Kathy Calvin: President Obama and his Administration have shown a renewed commitment to the UN, not just by paying our debts and putting us in good financial standing at the UN, but also by ensuring that the United States is an active participant and a leader in the global body. Through the appointment of a strong Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice (who also holds a position in the President’s Cabinet), the President signaled that the UN is a priority and a critical tool to achieving our national security goals.

In this Administration, we have seen the U.S. work through the UN to confront some of the greatest global challenges which has helped to keep the American people more secure. Just a few weeks ago during the opening of the UN General Assembly, the Administration reiterated concrete results of a strong U.S.-UN partnership including the stiffest UN sanctions ever against Iran and North Korea, renewed momentum to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials, strong sanctions and an unprecedented mandate to intervene and save lives in Libya, support for the historic and peaceful independence of Southern Sudan, vital UN assistance in Afghanistan and Iraq, vigorous defense of our staunch ally Israel, life-saving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable in the Horn of Africa and much progress in helping the UN Human Rights Council live up to its full potential.

And we know that the majority of Americans agree with the Administration. Recent bi-partisan research shows that 86% of Americans believe that the U.S. should be actively engaged at the United Nations.

Rahim Kanani: What have been some of the milestones of the UN Foundation in recent past?

Kathy Calvin: The UN Foundation’s mission and future are firmly rooted in Ted Turner’s bold vision and historic $1 billion commitment that founded the organization and catalyzed a new movement in philanthropy. Ted is on track to deliver his billion by 2014 and the UN Foundation has already delivered $1.8 billion through our partnerships. Through partnerships, campaigns, public outreach, and advocacy, the UN Foundation is broadening support for the UN on a daily basis. Over the past decade, the UN Foundation and its partners have helped the UN keep thousands of girls in school and prevent child marriage, provide sustainable energy to hundreds of thousands of people, reduce polio by 99% worldwide, create a grassroots movement to send more than 3 million anti-malaria nets to Africa, and champion the payment of more than $1.6 billion in U.S. debt to the UN.

Earlier this year, a major milestone for the health of children around the world was the immunization of the billionth child against measles. Our ten-year commitment in the Measles Initiative has taught us a lot, especially on how to galvanize the private sector and faith-based communities to approach our common agendas for real impact. This effort is a model for successful partnerships where partners pool their resources and make decisions that strengthen and enhance each partner’s contributions while growing and sustaining the impact on mortality reduction.

Based on what we’ve learned about partnership through the Measles Initiative, we are also making strides with our new Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, an initiative led by the Foundation to galvanize support for large-scale adoption of clean and safe household cooking solutions as a way to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and reduce climate change emissions. Nearly half the people in the world use polluting, inefficient stoves to cook their food each day. Since its launch last year, the Alliance has secured $78 million in funding and recruited more than 175 partners across six continents. In the next few weeks, the Alliance will be releasing a strategy report for the entire cookstove sector, based off the recommendations of 350 experts from 11 working groups.

Additionally, The UN Foundation is currently leading a large-scale, multi-stakeholder advocacy effort which seeks to strengthen the leadership role of the United States in advancing progress toward the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets of universal access to reproductive health by 2015. To date, the initiative has seen strong results, including a nearly 40 percent increase in U.S. funding for international reproductive health and family planning at one point, and the highest budget level ever requested by a President ($769 million for FY2012).

And last, but certainly not least, last year we merged with the United Nations Association of the United States of America to strengthen our common mission to build new momentum to strengthen and deepen American support for the UN. Together our two organizations represent the single largest network of American supporters of the UN.

Rahim Kanani: And where is the UN Foundation headed?

Kathy Calvin: Just as Ted Turner’s actions have inspired a new reality in which everyone can help create a better world, we are driven by his vision of creating a better future and are focused on seeking out organizations and individuals who share this passion and connecting them with the United Nations. We do this by developing strong private sector partnerships and grassroots campaigns to connect people, ideas, and resources to the UN.

In addition, we are identifying people who are the new face of support for the UN and solving world problems. One of the ways we are doing this is through our Girl Up campaign, gives American girls the opportunity to become global leaders and channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for programs of the United Nations that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. More than 200,000 girls have joined Girl Up and are hosting fundraisers in their schools, spreading the word through their social media networks, and donating their own money to help girls like them in other countries.

Also in today’s tough economic environment, we focus on investing in low-cost, high impact solutions that are innovative, sustainable, results-driven, and supported by the vast network of the UN. For example, our Nothing But Nets campaign has helped to create a movement $10 at a time to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. Inspired by sports columnist Rick Reilly, who coined the phrase “Nothing But Nets,” hundreds of thousands of people have joined the campaign that was created by the Foundation in 2006. For every $10 donated, a bed net is delivered to a family in need. I believe Nothing But Nets has been successful because we have gathered together many unlikely bedfellows such as the NBA, the United Methodist Church, and the Boy Scouts of America to raise awareness and funds for malaria prevention. So far, Nothing But Nets has raised more than $35 million to distribute more than 4 million nets with the goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015.

The Foundation is also using innovative technologies to make it easy for people everywhere to connect with the United Nations. For example, in September we launched a first-of-its-kind mobile and tablet application that allows people everywhere, free of charge, to get the latest news on the life-saving work of the United Nations and to share information through social media and mobile technology. The app aggregates news feeds from multiple UN agencies and programs and delivers news in one integrated, real-time stream. Users can personalize their UN news by selecting the topic areas and regions of most interest. The stream will be available in all six of the official languages of the UN.